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“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains” – Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
I have never witnessed so strange of a crossover between genres as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Really, it shouldn’t work. Combining the light and comical social comedy of a period novel with all the gore and violence of a zombie story should make for an awful parody, and yet, it almost doesn’t.
As a longtime lover of Pride and Prejudice in all its forms—book, 2005 movie, 1995 TV series—I was pleasantly surprised. Seth Grahame-Smith retains much of Austen’s original text while adding in his own zombie twist. For readers who are new to classics, or those who dislike Austen’s style, the addition of zombies and ninjas liven up the somewhat-dull plot and further engage the reader.
The zombies also unintentionally impart a very timely message about the upper class ignorance of relevant social issues and make the characters seem noticeably more stupid.
However, I don’t think the parody worked quite as well for me as it was intended to, though I still found it funny. There was a noticeable difference between Jane Austen’s original writing and Grahame-Smith’s writing; the new additions felt considerably awkward and stilted, and were obviously trying to imitate Austen’s style in a way that didn’t quite transition very smoothly.
Some of the characters were also modified to fit the zombie-slaying: Elizabeth was a lot more aggressive and angry, and more of the stereotypical “strong female,” which doesn’t really fit the original intention of her character as someone who is very witty and socially adept.
The plot line in which Charlotte becomes a zombie while none of the people around her notice is clever, but doesn’t make much sense if the reader stops and thinks. While Mr. Collins is certainly an idiot in some ways, and Lady Catherine is rather horrible, I wouldn’t characterize either of them as unobservant to their surroundings, though Mr. Collins is not particularly adept with social cues.
I also felt that the world-building was not well-established, and there was never a solid explanation for why the zombies showed up in the first place. The ninjas and Asian combat training were mildly interesting, but didn’t really make much sense and also weren’t explained.
Finally, I felt that the addition of zombies and violence diminished what makes the original Pride and Prejudice so brilliant. Austen’s wit and dry, subtle humor is one of the factors that I most enjoy about her books; she writes about events that are funniest with the context of social standards and perfectly ridiculous characters. The parody tried to make the humour less subtle, and I think that diminishes the point of Pride and Prejudice. Especially for modern readers, it should take a few moments for the humour to set in because we are nearly 200 years removed from the social standards of the Regency Era.
Overall, though, I would say that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is worth the read simply because it’s so wacky. It manages to pull off one of the most wild parody combinations, which certainly should be celebrated.
